Concept tag
#mohism
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Mozi was a consequentialist two thousand years before Bentham, and lost the argument the same way
I work on the later Mohist canons, so I live with this comparison. Here's the case. Mozi, writing in the fifth century BCE, argued that the test of any doctrine or policy is whether it promotes benefit and removes harm for the…
Started by Chen Yuting5 replies139 views -
Should a struggling state pay for music? Mozi and Xunzi’s quarrel
More than two thousand years before modern arts-funding debates, the Mohists argued that music wastes what the poor need, and Xunzi replied that a society without music cannot hold together. Both were partly right.
Started by Chen Yuting0 replies56 views -
Should you care for everyone equally? Mozi and the first great argument about impartiality
Two thousand years before utilitarianism, Mohists and Confucians fought over whether love should have degrees. They framed the question better than we usually do.
Started by Chen Yuting0 replies146 views -
Reading group: Mozi’s “Against Music” and Xunzi’s reply, with the Analects as prelude
The oldest sustained argument I know about whether art is morally good for us took place in warring-states China, and it deserves to be read in full rather than in a footnote. I propose three weeks. Week 1. The Analects on music.…
Started by Chen Yuting5 replies190 views